<p>One just appeared in the Berkeley forum:</p>
<p>Berkeley for $128,000* total loans vs. Minnesota for $9,000 total loans for a psychology major.</p>
<p>*There is a typo in the post, which says “BUT UCB costs me 42,000 a year (128,000 total) in loan”, so the Berkeley cost could actually be $168,000 total loans, depending on where the typo is.</p>
<p>Eastern Washington vs. CSU Fresno vs Marymount (not Loyola Marymount) for a computer science major. Incredibly, someone responding actually recommended Marymount, even though its “computer science” major was more of an MIS/IT major (EWU and CSUF have much more worthwhile computer science curricula).</p>
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<p>Ok, I’ll own up. </p>
<p>I wrongly assumed that the CS major would first determine that her choice had the desired major. lol</p>
<p>financially, this would be a good choice (IF IT had the major)…and the school has diversity, OOS students and is a residential college. And, it’s lovely. </p>
<p>also, the student isn’t sure about CS, likely won’t remain in that major.</p>
<p>Haverford vs. Stanford was interesting to me. They’re both top schools, but I’m always surprised to see a student who’s genuinely interested in two schools that are so drastically different. It seems to me that you’re an LAC-type person or a university-type person; while you can like both, I just don’t see how you can like both equally. That person is still seriously considering Haverford even though it would cost $36k more over 4 years.</p>
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<p>It can happen and does happen often. There are pros (and cons) to both types. Some kids just have difficulty deciding which pros are more important to them. My middle son kept Furman on his list along with other research Us until Furman just didn’t come close to competing financially with their merit and/or need based aid. Had all been equal (or even close to equal) I’ve no idea which he would have chosen as he could have fit in anywhere. (He chose the University of Rochester. Pittsburgh or Alabama would have been second on his list. Baylor got dropped (distance) and Furman got dropped (cost).)</p>
<p>The list of what he liked was extremely diverse and if I asked him about any of them he’d just come up with all the positives. I really enjoyed college searching with him. ;)</p>
<p>^ Right. If that poster were truly a LAC person but had the chops to get into Stanford, then from a broader selection of LACs he might have received at least one better aid offer (from an even richer school like Pomona, or from one with merit aid). But then, these are HS kids, and the variety of choices is pretty bewildering.</p>
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<p>But that doesn’t contradict my point that one (usually) doesn’t like both types equally. Having difficult *deciding *which factors are more important doesn’t mean that some factors aren’t more important than others to that student - just that it’s hard for them to decide which ones are (and the reasons for that are probably many and varied). I think ultimately, once they figure out what they want to get out of their undergraduate education and what they want their experience to be, they will favor either an LAC or a university. Doesn’t mean they can’t like both, or like both a lot, just that it’s hard for me to see how they could like them equally. They’re just too different IMO.</p>
<p>^^^ In the ps where I work I see it happen fairly often. At that point it’s often cost that decides. If cost isn’t a factor I find myself using the old, “toss a coin and see which one you’re secretly rooting for” advice unless there’s a genuine reason why they should pick one over the other. These kids haven’t really experienced much in life and only have an inkling about the differences involved. An overnight stay can help, but even then, they tend to see only the pros (if they’re so minded) and not the day in and day out cons. It’s sort of a “love is blind” scenario.</p>
<p>Most kids (like my guy) don’t usually bring their decision making to the internet - at least - not here - maybe Facebook friends. I’m amazed at how many bring it here, but not amazed (usually) at the diversity in their choices.</p>
<p>Not a choice for this poster, but an interesting comparison:
Engineering at MIT vs Engineering at Montana State University</p>
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<p>Actually, it does seem common for students to put schools on their application lists without checking for suitability of their intended or possible majors (the F&M vs. Minnesota choice is another example). Parents not that familiar with those majors may not be of much help in guiding choices either. Also, CS is one of those majors where many smaller* or less well known schools have very limited departments, and a high school senior not looking at the higher profile (in CS) schools may not know enough to tell whether a CS department has enough breadth and depth to make majoring in CS there worthwhile.</p>
<p>*Including some generally prestigious private schools.</p>
<p>I saw an interesting one on the Parents’ Forum: Case Western vs. William Jewell College, with an interest in mechanical engineering and Asian studies.</p>
<p>Thirty years ago I would have made the list. Final choice was MIT vs. Swarthmore. Ay yi yi.</p>
<p>^While different in many respects, I’m not sure that would make the list. Both academically intense, selective schools. Swarthmore even has engineering. </p>
<p>I also thought Stanford vs. Haverford was interesting. But then I asked myself if Harvard vs. Williams or Stanford vs. Pomona would be that unusual, and I don’t think they would be. It’s just that I don’t often see Haverford mentioned too much on these boards (even though it is truly a top-notch LAC). Perhaps this is due to it’s small size, even by LAC standards.</p>
<p>Another one involving the missing major: UCSB vs. Cal Poly SLO for environmental engineering. UCSB has neither environmental nor civil engineering in its ABET accreditation list, while Cal Poly SLO has both.</p>
<p>re: #17 William & Mary vs. James Madison.
Not as odd a one(particularly for instate students in Virginia) as some may think. William & Mary does not seem that appealing to many instate boys, particularly ones that like sports and having lots of fun! Neither son would apply there. UVa,Virginia Tech and JMU were much more appealing to them and that attitude is not uncommon. William & Mary is a fantastic school but is just not for everybody.
One of older son’s good friends was a William & Mary legacy who was accepted there but chose JMU. He just felt JMU was a better fit and had a great 4 years there. His dad (William & Mary undergrad and also W & M law grad) supported his decision to go to JMU (although initially a little disappointed ). Dad had a great 4 years visiting JMU as well.</p>
<p>1 - Williams vs. U. of Miami: Wait for it . . . for a prospective football player no less!</p>
<p>Haha this is funny! This was my situation. It came down to that because at the last minute I was offered a walk on spot by UM. The price at UM was very high and I have decided on Williams. I also believe this is better for me overall anyway because it will prepare me better academically, etc. I was still considering some other good schools like U Rochester, Case Western, etc. but I think Williams is the best. If you want to read more about it you can look for my original thread.</p>
<p>Pomona vs Stanford, and the OP chose Pomona. That’s pretty unusual, I don’t see how Pomona can compare to anything Stanford has to offer.</p>
<p>Just saw a new one:</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO (Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering) versus SMU (which does not have agricultural engineering)</p>
<p>OP did not clearly say that agricultural engineering was the desired major, or if s/he wanted to switch to a different major.</p>
<p>nostalgicwisdom, it’s not that uncommon for students to prefer Pomona over Stanford. I did, and I know both institutions very well.</p>
<p>Aren’t you yourself attending Pomona next year as your first-choice institution? </p>
<p>In a previous post you mentioned:
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<p>Many people get caught up in the chase for the name over a focus on undergraduate teaching. It’s much more fulfilling to attend a college that people are attending for the right reasons.</p>
<p>I love Pomona to death and you can have more than one dream school, but Stanford is the only school I’d choose over Pomona. And not just for name brand, because North California is amazing, the student body is more diverse, the facilities are nicer, and you have the same focus on undergrad and learning that Pomona does. Arguably more resources and opportunities. </p>
<p>I didn’t take any effort to apply to Stanford because I knew I had no chance of getting in. I find it really hard to see anything Pomona has that Stanford doesn’t.</p>
<p>These are humorous. My guess is that students who have very different schools on their lists either 1) don’t have a clue what they want or what they’re doing; 2) are overseas and unable to visit either school; or 3) can’t decide whether they should go with the school they like or the program they want.</p>
<p>As for #3, take engineering. I don’t know how it is in the rest of the country, but in the Southeast the best engineering schools are at large research universities (Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, NC State are examples). For a student who wants to be an engineer but thinks he/she would much rather have the atmosphere and social life that a small liberal arts college would provide, this is a really tough decision. It’s usually not feasible to transfer into a full-fledged engineering program after two years in a non-engineering curriculum. On the other hand, a student who starts an engineering program may find out he/she hates it and then would rather transfer out of the university. That’s a dilemma for 17 and 18 year-olds who really can’t be sure of what they want to do for the rest of their lives.</p>